Shutford publican’s rum spices up the UK market

Roseanne Edwards

Shutford has been dubbed the Caribbean of the UK since the village pub landlord launched an irresistible spiced rum.

Paul Stanley’s Cloven Hoof has quickly become the fastest growing spiced rum in the UK, being ordered by pubs around the country.

Last week, fan Phil Campbell, former Motorhead guitarist, ordered six bottles of Hoof to be delivered to Wales for his new band.

Mr Stanley said: “I got bored of selling, cheap mass marketed corporate rum with a fake Caribbean history and standard vanilla flavourings, so I decided to make my own.

“After years of experimentation in the George and Dragon’s kitchen the concoction evolved until finally I felt inspired enough to go to market.

“Cloven Hoof Spiced Rum was launched at Rumfest in London back in October and now it’s become the fastest growing spiced rum in the UK.

“The feedback was amazing and we got our first big order from a distributor in Brighton. Since then sales have rocketed,” he said..

“The rum was originally called Dragon’s Blood to tie in with the pub’s name, but one night we finally nailed the recipe by chucking a load of cloves in for the first time and one witty regular suggested calling it Cloven Hoof because the devil made us do it. And the name stuck.”

A dark red rum with the ‘kick of the beast from the underworld’, the Hoof is made from rum from Guyana and Trinidad and is now produced in Chorley. Visitors to the pub who mention the Banbury Guardian will get a shot on the house.